OFF THE TRAIL; The White House Weighs In

By PATRICK D. HEALY

Published: May 9, 2005

Watch out, Democrats: Karl Rove's people were in town Friday to plot campaign strategy for New York.

Tellingly, though, the mayor's race came up only briefly in their talks with New York Republican leaders. Seems the threat posed by Freddy, Virginia, Anthony or Giff isn't keeping Mr. Rove up at night.

Instead, the focus was on divining Gov. George E. Pataki's future -- re-election in '06? a run for the presidency in '08? -- and finding an appealing moderate Republican who could cause trouble for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's re-election bid next year.

Specifically, the Rove camp is concerned that Mrs. Clinton is positioning herself as a centrist Democrat on issues like abortion and defense in order to broaden her appeal for a possible White House bid in 2008, according to people who were briefed on the Friday discussions. Fielding a moderate Republican challenger, the thinking goes, could force Mrs. Clinton to adopt liberal positions to energize her base of support, and thereby sully her moderate image and weaken her in advance of '08.

The folks from the White House -- Sara Taylor and Annie Mayol, two Rove lieutenants from the Office of Political Affairs -- met at the state party's Lexington Avenue offices with Stephen Minarik, the New York Republican chairman; his executive director, Ryan Moses; and the party's state finance chairman, James Ortenzio.

The Washington faction arrived with a candidate in mind to face Mrs. Clinton: Jeanine F. Pirro, the Westchester County district attorney. The entire group concurred that Ms. Pirro was smart, energetic and attractive, a socially moderate crime fighter who supports abortion rights and who would be another option for female voters who like having a woman in the Senate seat.

As for the governor, Messrs. Minarik and Moses were said to be unsure whether Mr. Pataki would run for re-election, but signs pointed against it.

The New Yorkers also lacked hard intelligence about a presidential bid. The White House delegation asked about William F. Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who has raised the possibility of running for governor here if Mr. Pataki does not.

But the state Republicans said it was too early to look beyond Mr. Pataki, who is expected to announce his plans in the coming weeks. PATRICK D. HEALY